


In Defense of Rowling: an Essay

by shiju333



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:07:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24774391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiju333/pseuds/shiju333
Summary: aka I'm Tired of the Fandom Guilloting Its Head.I wrote this for facebook angry social activists, but I felt it deserved to atleast be read. Feel free to comment, but remember, I, the author, am only trying to be philosophical. Personally, I think Rowling needs to stay off the internet, at least publicly.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	In Defense of Rowling: an Essay

In Defense of Rowling: aka I'm Tired of the Fandom Guilloting Its Head ...

To play devil's advocate [I actually do think Rowling needs to let the books stand alone, but...], for fun, because rebuttals are mind expanding:

Rowling is a product of her time. You cannot change her views. You and I may want to, but you, for yourself, need to accept her (Rowling) views are contrary to yours. This is philosophical; no right or wrong. I am assuming you still love the Harry Potter series. Or the anger would not exist, yes? The fandom is one option, so is ignoring the news about Rowling.

Acknowledge she wrote a great story. For the 1990s. It's 2020. A lot changes in 30 years. Most of us do not have the viewpoint of 1990. We were not old enough. Educating yourself on the LGBTQ movement of days past could help you tolerate her. Not like: tolerate. I read a book about lesbians and lesbian erotica in the 1950s. Great historical fiction—loved it!

I believe Rowling was born around the same time as my own mother, so we're referring to a 54 year old woman. I will use my mother's family as a good picture of what society in 1965 (USA, since my family is from there) was like. Or, rather, what the average—white—family expected.

My grandfather: the man whom raised our Rowling-figure could not accept people of different races. At all. I can hear his voice calling Japanese Americans horrible slurs. A compliment, from him, to an African American of the time was backwards and filled with the word any moral person would choose not to say. I tried to bring a political movement into my home about speaking out for the LGBTQ community and bullying, and, frankly, blew his mind.

The person, whom, likely raised Rowling couldn't even process homosexuality. TV (in the USA; I cannot speak for Britain) was considered liberal in the 1970s (when our Rowling experienced her formative years) simply because they showed a female accepting her female friend's 'partner' (All in the Family). Another liberal moment on that particular show was the presence of a man of color living in a prominent neighborhood.

To be fair, my maternal grandfather was a conservative good man (for his time). I will diverge for a paragraph to introduce the concept of what was considered a progressive man for our Rowling-figure, in my paternal (step) grandfather [mock my rebuttal, not my still living grandfather, ok].My grandfather came into my paternal grandmother's life when she was a newly divorced woman with five children, and he stepped up to raise them. That, is what our Rowling-figure considers progressive. Our Rowling-figure occasionally still blurts out horrible racist 'jokes' [I do not agree with the 'humor'].

Getting back to the heart of our rebuttal, I will state I am 31; I imagine the majority of complaints about Rowling are from the generation younger than me. I want you to ask yourself, how old are your grandparents? Mine are in their 80s [and I'm so grateful I can still speak to them]. 60? Maybe 70? Rowling is 54. I implore you to think about her tweets as if your grandparents had free reign on the magical interwebz. I cannot imagine our Rowling-figure on the internet. Frankly her computer is a dust collector, but she does pay her own bills online. She logged into facebook, maybe three times.

What are you, if you're still reading, going to be like after decades of major upheaval and change? Don't you still go back to the nostalgia of music you listened to when you were young? Don't you repeat things your parents say because you respect them and love them? Aren't you a product of your own environment (to a degree)?

So, I end my rebuttal with two main options: if you cannot empathize with and accept Rowling as a once progressive individual of her generation—ignore her—block her bloody Twitter, and love the magic of Harry Potter for what it is.

**Author's Note:**

> Here's to hoping A03 didnt't ruin my format (past what I noticed/corrected). Sorry archive, I'll be fanfiction (dot) net - user for life.


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